Extractor fan wiring

[Kat74]

Hi, I've recently moved into a new house & am doing some work in the kitchen. The existing extractor fan has never worked so I'm replacing it with a new one (the same model). The old one was wired into a junction box & I've wired the new one into the same sockets in the junction box as the old one. But...the new fan is not working either, so I'm wondering if it is the junction box that's not working, rather than the old extractor fan......
How can I find out if there is power to the junction box? Or, is it better just to wire a plug to the new fan & plug it in to a normal socket?
I'm not great with electrics - I'm fairly confident with the basic stuff, but any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[breezer]

if as you say you are not that confident then put a plug on it with a 3 amp fuse and plug it in. we don't want to be responsible for you having an accident

 

[il78]

Could be that you have bought the wrong fan (ie, switched type / humidity) or as you say no power at the JB, either put a plug onto the fan and see if it works or buy a tester. That will then let you know a little bit more.

Sometimes you need a link cable over from the L terminal to the SW/L terminal, depending on the fan.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Let me see if I've got this right - you are fairly confident with the basic stuff but you have no idea how to tell if a cable is live?

Run that by me again...